Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 2 February 2005 having been previously circulated were taken as read, confirmed and signed.

The Chief Executive reported that no questions had been received under Standing Order 35.

The Chief Executive reported that no questions had been received under Standing Order 7(3) and 7(5).

There were no urgent items for consideration.

There were no declarations of interest.

There were no declarations of the Party Whip.

The Chief Executive reported that there were no petitions to be presented.

A copy of the report to be submitted to the Cabinet on 8 March 2005 has been circulated to all members as an Information Item.  The Commission is invited to comment on the proposed Strategy.  The views of the Commission will be forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration.

The Commission considered a report of the Chief Executive concerning the revised Community Strategy.  The Strategy, which forms part of the County Council’s Plan Framework, would be considered by the Cabinet on 8 March prior to its submission to the County Council on 23 March 2005.  A copy of the Strategy, marked ‘A’ is filed with these minutes.

In response to questions the Commission was advised as follows:-

(i)      The Citizen’s Panel comprised 950 people who were selected to ensure, as far as possible, that they were representative of the population of the County.  The consultation with the Panel to identify priorities for the Strategy was by way of a questionnaire.   The composition of the Panel was regularly reviewed and the Panel had recently been ‘refreshed’.

(ii)     The Strategy distinguished between those actions the Leicestershire Together Board had agreed as a priority action, those actions to be delivered through other Partnerships and other actions.  In some cases the Leicestershire Together priorities actions section was blank.  The reason for this was either the issue had not been identified as a priority during the consultation process or that it was being addressed by another partnership.

(ii)     the role of Leicestershire Together Board was developing.  Currently the Board was not funded (unlike the City LSP, which received Neighbourhood Renewal Funding) and relied on officer support and a process of persuasion to get the various partners to agree to and help deliver the priorities in the Community Strategy.  The Board would however become the body responsible for overseeing the implementation of the new local area agreements and for negotiating the second round of PSA targets.  This would enable it to access funds and hence enhance its role and influence.

RESOLVED:

a)      That the Cabinet be advised that the Commission endorses the revised Leicestershire Community Strategy and, in particular, welcomes the development of the measurable outcomes therein.

b)      That there should be greater clarity in the document as to the process for identifying priorities, emphasising that these were priorities requiring action as a matter of urgency and that, for this reason, other services of importance to the community were not identified as priorities for that purpose.

c)      That the Cabinet be asked to consider the inclusion of the following specific points in the Strategy:

         Pages 24 and 25   -     To promote market towns and village centres as ‘hubs’ for surrounding communities and ensuring:

·        that there are appropriate transport links to such ‘hubs’

·        that other statutory partners, particularly the Primary Care Trusts are encouraged to make facilities such as GPs, dentists etc., available in such ‘hubs’.

         Pages 47 and 48   -        to support an increase in the number of Community Support Officer posts in the County to tackle issues of crime and disorder.

         Pages 57 – 58       -        to support and encourage the development of sports, leisure and cultural activities for young people.

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday 20 April 2005 at 2.00 p.m.

RESOLVED:

That the next meeting to the Commission be held at 2.00 p.m. on Wednesday 20 April 2005.

2 March 2005

2.00 p.m. – 2.45 p.m.                                            CHAIRMAN